Field Skills I

Description

This module initiates the development of high quality field skills. These relate to:

  • The field identification of rock types
  • The distinction and recognition of adjacent rock units and their relationships
  • The quantitative measurement of bedding structures, and understanding the significance of their relationships
  • Sedimentary and structural logging methods
  • An introduction to 1:10,000 geological and geomorphological mapping

Approaches to producing high quality reports based on field observations and interpretations as are introduced.

Fieldwork includes 3 days in semester 1 where formative assessment is undertaken and 10 days in semester 2 with a range of formative and summative assessment methods.

Delivery

  • 8 hours lectures
  • 3 days of fieldwork in semester 1 (formative)
  • 11 days of fieldwork in semester 2 (formative and summative)

Assessment

Formative

Semester 1 fieldwork is formative and includes feedback to individuals and small groups in the field before coursework is submitted, and then formative feedback on:

  • The field notebook
  • A summary log of the Silurian sediments at the Wren’s Nest
  • A short report on the Geology of the Wrekin
  • A Summary interpretation of the Jurassic sediments of the Cotswolds, after the trips

For semester 2 fieldwork, two formative assessments are made as small group tutorials focussing on Notebooks at the start of the trip, and staff are available for consultation for the mapping and structural exercises.

Summative

Submitted coursework from individual exercises completed during the Semester 2 field course including:

  • Sedimentary logging exercise
  • Geological Mapping exercise
  • Structural Geology exercise
  • Estuarine sedimentary structures exercise

After the fieldwork students will submit:

  • A short (2 page A4) summary of the Cambrian environments
  • A short (2 page A4) summary of the igneous rocks and their modes or formation
  • A completed field notebook

The weighting of these remains flexible in response to changing fieldwork situations on fieldwork, but in general the longer time spent on an individual exercise the greater the weighting assigned. 

Key skills

  • Rock identification in the field
  • Taking structural measurements
  • Geological and geomorphological mapping
  • Sedimentary logging
  • Reconstructing past environments
  • Notebook reporting
  • Making scientific field sketches
  • Reconstructing geological histories